England Rugby can’t buy a win at the moment after their poor showing in the Autumn internationals, but the competitive edge was on full show at London Irish as the famous rugby club teamed up with Coral.co.uk to put on a poker night.

The emphasis was on fun with a little learning when Coral staged its first “Winning Hands – Backing Rugby” poker event at London Irish’s training base in Sunbury last week.

Supporters, players and friends of the Exiles gathered in the Four Provinces Bar at the club for an enjoyable evening.

The action was entertaining and competitive especially as the stakes got higher, however, as the chips were free there were no real losers.

The five-man final table was won by London Irish player, Shane Geraghty although he was pushed to the end by supporter Paul Spoard and World Boxing Union lightweight champion, Graham Earl who is a big London Irish fan.

The evening was well supported by the club’s players including Bob Casey, Mike Catt, Nick Kennedy, Delon Armitage, Danie Coetzee and Neal Hatley. Among the guest players was former London Irish and England star Chris Sheasby, now Director of Rugby at Bracknell RFC.

Commenting on the evening Olivia Seton, Sponsorship Manager of Gala Coral E-Commerce said: “A key part of our ‘Backing Rugby’ sponsorship is to get involved with the Premier Rugby clubs and their supporters and hopefully have a little fun along the way."

 "Last night’s ‘Winning Hands’ poker evening at London Irish was an enjoyable and successful start to a programme of similar events to be staged at the other clubs around the country.”